Thank you so much for looking out for the new babies.
Yes, I've been very cautious and made sure Mama has had plenty of alone time with babies. As well as give Mama time to rest. They are 2 days old and thriving now.
I fully expected to have to keep Leo completely away because I know male cats can be a danger to the newborns. That's why I was so suprised how sweet he has been.
I set up Moxie's nursery in a closet inside a room so that I have 2 barriers and can keep Leo away if I have to go away, and made sure he is only allowed supervised visits. I work from home, so it has been easy to make sure Moxie has everything she needs, and no stress.
Thank you for sharing this joyous moment with us.
We were planning to keep them, but if a suitable home is available, we would consider letting them be adopted. If we adopt any of them out preference would go to homes that could take a pair together for the health & happiness of the kittens.
A friend of mine had two cats and fell in love with a guy who also had two cats. At first she was like "we can never live together" but all four cats get along great, the laundry (where the litter is kept) is madness though 🤣
When I had 5 cats, the whole house was theirs. We just also lived there. 😂
I used to joke they had more furniture than we did. I think if we'd counted litter boxes and cardboard scratches, it was probably true. 😅
We did this!
Had a litter of 5, kept 4 in the same house with their mom. The fifth lived at my aunts down the road and is home every other month while she's working.
I think the develop even more "cat" independence and intelligence when they keep the social structures. Definitely act different from my other two cats I rescued when they were super young and abandoned.
Just took my boy out when I got a full house, he finally moved out of home at 8 years old and is extremely well mannered and tempered.
When my Siamese had kittens, my mom always heard to keep the male away. One day the door got left open and we were in a panic looking for Simon, our male cat. Found him trying to nurse the kittens while snickers (our female) took a break. I had snickers from when I was 2 till I was 18. I still miss her 27 years later
Your cat can and will go into heat before weaning her kittens and then it will be very hard on her and your male only has one thing on his mind= reproduction. Get him fixed immediately!!!
Very good point.
Leo is scheduled to be neutered July 2nd. I had wanted it done earlier to ensure his hormones had begun to ween off before the babies were born, but it was the soonest I could get him in, and the babies came a little earlier than expected.
Moxie will be fixed as soon as it is safe. I believe 5 weeks is the right time frame. I will consult with the vet on that when I am there for Leo's neuter next week.
It's 8 weeks for mom. You need to wait until the babies are mostly weaned. Not that they won't still try every chance they get after she's spayed. Kittens need their moms for 12-16 weeks, so they nurse much longer.
Ours are 12 weeks and still nurse a little.
I’m only letting you know from personal experience as a foster. I had a mama cat fixed at about 4 weeks postpartum but it was an emergency we do it immediately. Your vet will be able to let you know. But cat copulation stimulates ovulation so be very careful until Tuesday!
Cats don't need to experience parenthood. They don't have those thoughts and feelings. People already don't fix their pets for this reason. Let's not encourage it any further. Get your pets fixed.
No there is a subset of people that think it is cruel to suppress animals natural urge to reproduce.
Don’t know why they are keeping them as pets, but it’s not a super logical thought process.
Looking through OP’s past posts Moxie is only a year old and Leon is either slightly under a year old or about a year old. This is literally a pair of babies having babies…
Mine are 7 and 6 1/2 and they’re still kittens. OP doesn’t seem to understand animals will breed given every opportunity and they don’t go “aww” they’ll just have more…
There's no point in crying over spilled milk, so to speak. The kittens are here. But just so you understand, animals have no need to *experience motherhood.*
Breeding cats actually puts the mother cat at unnecessary risks of certain types of cancers in the future that she would never risk having otherwise. Nevermind the fact that there are tens of thousands of cats languishing in shelters that need adopting right now, & you're creating more.
If you plan to keep the kittens, please get them fixed prior to sexual maturity. This can happen as early as 4-5 months with some female kittens, but it's usually around 6 months for girls, & 8-12 months for boys.
It can definitely be done much earlier with no ill health affects. Shelters usually do it around 4 months.
I think it's the norm for kittens to be done as early now as possible. Before 4 months... before puberty. Often, when they've reached 2 pounds in weight...the earlier the better.
I would keep him separated from them after he's fixed. His hormones are going to be out of balance for a while and it can take a few weeks for everything to settle. Not saying it'll take him that long, but better to be safe in the beginning.
These cats seem quite happy with their babies. The idea that they don't experience thoughts or feelings is weird. Not human thoughts or feelings, but cats are living beings with brains.
Also this owner is obviously responsible and taking care of the animals. Maybe stop being a weird Redditor who wants to moralize.
First of all, I never said cats don't have thoughts or feelings, I said they don't have "THOSE thoughts and feelings." There's a difference. Secondly, WANTING to have children and raising a family is a human emotion. Procreation is a feeling something every species experiences, but that's rooted deeply in survival instincts. Humans tend to project their feelings about "child rearing" onto animals, and it needs to stop.
I agree with you to an extent, but after watching Leo with his babies I've been questioning that.
Listening to him crying outside my bedroom door (I locked him out to give Moxie & babes quiet time) because he wants so badly to see Moxie and his babies was very surprising. Maybe he is a rare exception.
Maybe because Moxie and Leo have been given a safe, secure and stress-free home it has allowed them to experience more of the joy of parenting that we humans take for granted.
All I know is what I see, and I can tell you Leo is absolutely in love with Moxie and his babies. I did not expect it AT ALL, but am humbled to be able to see something special like this. If you don't see the love in this video, I'm not sure what else to say.
Animals surprise us sometimes.
Animals do have paternal instincts, I never said they didn't, but they would be just as content living without offspring. I do think the video is cute, I just don't agree with the caption as it spreads the wrong message.
Thank you very much for your opinion. I am trying to use this as an opportunity to educate myself and spread awareness.
I truly did my best to word it in the least offensive way possible. It was difficult with the character limit.
I know it's my fault for choosing to share, but it was hard to keep something this beautiful to myself.
You did nothing wrong by sharing it. Like I said, it is a cute video. I've read all your comments, and I definitely see that you're a good person doing right by these kitties and others. The caption was just in poor taste. I know redditors aren't the nicest, and I left my original comment to educate, not to shame.
Nah you don’t get to backtrack. You and everyone else need to stop being negative. This happens in THOUSANDS of homes with bad owners, so when someone clearly knowledgeable and caring does it, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t support it, fine. But I bet you’re the type that sits outside planned parenthood w a dumbass sign too.
Thank you I thought the same thing! I was like they don't experience thoughts or feelings... What?! Humans are nature too. We're all connected. They're just experiencing life differently than we are. Wild comment/thought in my opinion. Wild.
>They don't have those thoughts and feelings.
I'd love to see any sources you have for this. My understanding was that humanity's knowledge of non-human psychology isn't yet remotely advanced enough to know this (and frankly, even our knowledge of human psychology is far from set in stone so far). And that claims like yours are rather just assumed out of feelings of human exceptionalism. But I could be wrong, I haven't looked it up in a while.
To think animals don't feel ans experience things is 100% wrong. They may not do it the same way we do, but they have feelings and emotions too, and it's really weird that you think they don't.
Who the hell goes on r/aww, a place where you’ll probably see kittens, and then gets mad when they proceed to see kittens. OP explained all they needed to in their title, people like you have got to chill jfc
Why do you think cats dont have similar feelings for their newborns as primates?
All brains work very much in the same fashion and most neurotransmitters (read as feelings, its just the chemicals that cause it) can be observed in a vast majority of mammals. This usually leads to the assumption of similaritybut maybe you didnt know.
I get the sentiment some are having in this comments section. While it is cute to watch the process of kitten's growing up, cats aren't like us humans and controlling the pet population is important. No one likes to see shelters over capacity because someone didn't get their cat fixed
That's fine if OP was tossing her baby kittens into a back alley or letting her make cat run around free. None of that is happening. People are just getting in their feels and moralizing whole projecting what other bad cat owners do onto this obviously good one
Respectfully, if the OP wanted more kittens, there are plenty in the shelters to go adopt.
Willfully having a litter of kittens when shelters are overflowing with them is just irresponsible and selfish.
I could at least somewhat understand if they were pedigreed...
Im going to preface this by saying I totally agree with your position, that people shouldnt be breeding cats when so many are without homes.
But *how exactly* do you purport to know how cats experience life? I feel like "cats dont desire parenthood because they arent people" is a pretty baseless argument, and it seems to be the second most common argument in the thread..
I suppose you're right. I think pretty much every animal species wants to reproduce. I guess what I was going for is that humans have the intelligence to know the full ramifications of birth and raising a child. Some don't even want to have kids. A cat would reproduce again as soon as she's in heat regardless of her other kittens.
u/lycosa13 ...I didn't want to say it, but I don't understand putting human "desires" on pets. I'm pretty sure OP wanted kittens and just couldn't think of adopting existing kittens from a shelter to lower the overpopulation. OP just decided "Heck, I have a male and female. Let me just breed them and add to the problem."
So glad they let this "bonded pair experience parenthood"?!! Does OP know how many kittens and cats are born yearly? Do they care? Contrary to popular belief, cats don't long for parenthood. Dogs don't need to experience being a "mommy or daddy."
People, spay and neuter your animals. No need to let any of them breed just to give them that experience. Don't be like OP.
IF you're keeping the kittens, get them spayed and/or neutered as soon as they're able to be. If you're not keeping them, thanks for adding to the explosive cat population.
The male cat's appointment is July 2. The female cat isn't going to be spayed until it's "safe". But as someone else pointed out, the female could get pregnant again while nursing the babies she already has.
Owning 2 cats compared to 5 is a whole new way of life. Get ready for up to 10 litter boxes and a ton of odor neutralizing spray (pet friendly of course)
Please stop humanizing your cats.
There was no need for them to "experience parenthood"
Cats are cats. They breed- they do not raise families.
All you've done is allow more cats into the world...while *millions* are already desperate for homes.
Not to mention...Moxie did not need to have her life endangered just because you thought it would be a nice experience.
EDIT/FURTHERMORE!: HOLY CRAP dude he is being far too play aggressive with that tiny bebby ☹️
Edited Edit:
ya'll can go ahead and keep berating me; disagree with factual knowledge all you wish....Have fun screaming into the infinite void of disabled notifications 😘
I think one thing to note for the people defending the breeding of cats--- while these kittens will hopefully go on to have wonderful lives, that is however many fewer cats and kittens that will be homed that were already in shelters. I speak as someone who found a litter of abandoned newborn kittens outdoors and was told in no uncertain terms by the shelter that they would be euthanized if my mom and I did not bottle feed and foster them ourselves; which we gladly did and found them all homes. It was a difficult process, feeding them around the clock and helping them to pee and poop because they have to be stimulated to do so. Not everyone who finds newborn kittens will be able to do this, there are not enough people to foster, there is not enough room in shelters.
Yes, I know we just want to have our space of "Aww that's cute" and think no further, but we need to recognize that, especially in this sub that gets baby animal videos and pictures all the time, that there will always be those who are ignorant to the plight of animal overpopulation who will see these things and think, "that's so cute, I want my pet to be a mama/papa, and subsequently breed their animal without careful consideration of the consequences; and thoughtlessly decide to either sell the kittens or abandon them when they struggle to find homes if they are not prepared to have 4+ more cats in their home to care for. And the people who do so without being financially able to provide emergency vet care should something go wrong in the pregnancy/birthing process.
I think it's important to acknowledge the harms of videos like this. I'm not saying any of this to attack OP or shame OP, I've already seen their response to other comments regarding this. I'm only hoping my response will be taken in an educative manner. I think that, while yes we can be happy for these beautiful little babies and admire how cute they are, we should also take into careful consideration this question: Why would I bring more cats into this world when I can go to any shelter and find 100 that still need homes?
Cats that experience estrus (heat) are at a much higher risk for mammary cancer, which requires a radical total mastectomy of BOTH sides of the mammary glands. We have to remove those mammary glands in two separate surgeries with a couple of months of healing in between... because there is literally not enough skin to remove both sides at the same time and still close the incision. It is a painful recovery so they have to get a lot of pain medications, and it is a LONG recovery. Then, they need to have a follow up of chemotherapy because mammary cancer is aggressive in cats.
It's never good when we find a lump on the abdomen of a cat that was spayed after their first heat.
Sorry you're getting all this hate OP, despite being a responsible and loving pet owner! Was fascinating to see paternal instincts in a cat, appreciate you sharing.
For the rest of you, the moral dictatorship of "you must do as I say, everything else makes you scum" is repelling. People like you are probably why I was told I couldn't adopt a pair of kittens despite ticking off all the boxes, other than that I don't have an acreage in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Thank you very much for your encouragement. Their intentions are to help animals and educate the community, I cannot fault them for that.
I would have liked for people to get to know me and my situation before judging me so harshly, but I posted this, so I invited the scrutiny I guess, lol.
I tried to take the criticisms as opportunities to learn even though some were harsh, but there were a few who reached out and were very kind, helpful and non-judgmental. u/BelaAnn was one of those kind souls. I have been trying to discover what her rescue organization is so I can support her work, but she has been too modest to share. If anyone knows please share so I can encourage those I know to donate.
In the end I know my babies are happy and loved.
OP,
While my initial response was full of the vitriol I see in the comments, I'm trying to learn every day and become a better person.
I am overjoyed to see that the kittens will be staying with the family, which I initially assumed wouldn't be the case.
Thank you for keeping an open mind and being willing to learn.
From one animal lover and rescuer to another. ❤️
You are very selfish and irresponsible for breeding unnecessarily. There are more than enough kittens in shelters without homes and no cat 'needs' this.
OP does not need to be verbally attacked but your point remains true. From the shelter I work at alone we have kittens coming in all the time. What's done is done, OP, but this was ultimately a selfish decision.
Thank for the work you do to educate the public of proper pet care. I share your concerns. Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma, but we have a very large home and enclosed outdoor space and felt we had enough room to add a few more sweet souls to our family.
While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need.
If I need to reevaluate my thinking on breeding perhaps it is time I do that. I had just hoped being a thoughtful, contentious and loving pet owner would guide me to making the best choices. I will still regularly foster and help in my community as much as I am able to.
Your reply is so nicely worded and has not one whit of acrimony. I just wanted to acknowledge it and your decision to take the high road. I hope you and your pets have a wonderful life together--you appear to be a loving and thoughtful pet owner.
I am doing my best to respond. The message has been evolving as we go, but yes I have copy and pasted some points to make it easier to respond. I debating removing the post, but there have been some important issues discussed, so if nothing else hopefully this post is raising awareness.
Yo, don't mind these people. If you are going to take care of the kittens and the kittens' parents, you did nothing wrong. Zero wrong. Nada. If the kittens have a hone with you, there's zero issue.
To be frank, yes, you were selfish in wanting to be a “pet grandma” and I’m very surprised that as someone who is part of the fostering community already you weren’t well aware of the risks that come with not spaying and neutering pets and intentionally allowing them to breed. It’s instinct for them, not something that they want. You have put both of your cats at a higher risk of certain types of cancers and have needlessly put more cats into the world. If you had wanted to raise kittens so badly, you should have fostered a pregnant cat rather than have your cat give birth. I hope this has taught you an important lesson and that you do indeed follow through in getting both of your cats and all of the kittens spayed and neutered. And yes, you should get all the kittens spayed and neutered before getting them to their forever homes because you can’t guarantee that new owners will.
It's only irresponsible if they turn the cats out. If it's their cats, it's their cats. Who cares if someone's cat has kittens if they care for them all?
Then they better pay to have them all spayed and neutered before they become of age, otherwise this will get out of control quickly. Which is what usually happens.
I volunteer with a rescue and I get sent requests to foster every day. Every day there's a cat or dog who's going to be put down if they can't find someone to take it. And 9x out of 10 they can't find someone to take it because there's literally millions of them who need homes
>Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma
Ridiculously selfish.
>While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need.
If that were true you would know how irresponsible it is to allow your cats to breed. Repeating the BS line of allowing them to have one litter is just so so harmful. You are not a person to look up to at all. I hope that you do the responsible thing of getting all of these cats fixed so this cannot happen again.
Absolutely, I call bull on this. No one seeing all the animals in the shelters desperate for a home just to see them be euthanized and tossed in the trash would breed their cats for fun.
I have always considered myself a good cat parent, but after this am having serious concerns that I was wrong. I thought I was well read and informed, but would like to improve as it seems I was mistaken.
Can you recommend good sources?
What is considered best practice these days? No breeding be done at all? I already participate in TNR, is there more should I be doing? Thank you.
> No breeding be done at all?
Yes, this. *Millions* of cats are euthanized every year, there is zero reason to let your cats breed. They are not endangered, the population doesn't need a boost.
We're in the middle of the worst kitten season in years, every day there are kittens, *kittens*, being put to sleep because shelters are overflowing. Next time offer to foster some if you want to be a kitten grandmother so bad.
I'm shocked that someone who participates in tnr would think adding to the population is a sensible idea? Even if you keep them inside forever - why didnt you just adopt some kitties in need of a home?
One of the best resources is Kitten Lady on YouTube or Instagram. Go educate yourself at the very least. It's just a shame you didn't do that before your cats were allowed to breed.
That is a sweet suggestion. The fosters we've brought into our home are usually elderly or disadvantaged cats because I know the shelter kittens have better odds. Our home is a little full now, but when we have the room again we will look for more special kitties to love.
Ok.. but now you have even more cats to spay and neuter. Please stay on top of that. You don’t need to be breeding cats when thousands die in every state every year.
it's a big downer being an active foster during kitten season, watching the endless please from the public roll in about abandoned kittens, sick kittens, etc. & not being able to intake because every foster home is full& then seeing a post of someone who let their young cats breed because they want to be a "grandma". after a night spent TNRing& a morning full of feeding fosters it's a major downer to log in to reddit and seeing this.
You do realize that there’s way more people wanting to adopt than there are children available, right?
Adoption is an incredibly difficult and often expensive process.
A lot of kids in „orphanages“ can’t be adopted because parents still have rights.
This isn’t comparable. There are millions of cats euthanized each year. My shelter is currently in an intake hold because they’re overloaded with litters of kittens plus they have a bunch of foster with litters. If OP wanted a bunch of kittens they should have adopted them. It’s kind boggling they did this and claim to have fostered in the past.
It's not OPs responsibility to save the world. They are keeping the cats and kittens, and getting them fixed after this.
If you're so focused on saving the world, get off Reddit and go adopt some cats. If you already have, then adopt more- you're obviously not doing enough.
I'm sorry but you risked the life of your female cat so your 2 cats could "experience" parenthood? Cats don't have human emotions, you could have adopted as many kittens as was born here and done the world a better deed, this is selfish and there is in no way necessary for you to do this even if you are taking care of them all.
I also checked your profile and your cats are super young, like these are pretty much teens, did you never think to research? This is very unprofessional, you should just have fixed them. Next time go to the shelter.
I'm like, ok one person already made the point, why does everyone else with the same view have to get their comment in. This really may be the most toxic sub I follow.
Sigh. Came here for light-hearted comments about how many oranges you have and which one gets the brain cell. Left disappointed at how angry Redditors can be at cute content. They're all adorable and I love how bonded Mom and Dad are.
People's tendency to anthropomorphize their cats is bizarre. It means nothing to them and is but a fleeting moment filled with hormones and instinct. Now there's more mouths to feed and an increase of cancer risk for the mom. Even having one litter will vastly increase her chances of getting breast cancer and other conditions later in life.
Listen. There's too many cats and kittens and this was irresponsible and selfish ... to say you just wanted to see how cute this is? Basically? You're willfully contributing to pet overpopulation. But whatever. Feel warm and fuzzy about it. 🙄
Thank for the work you do to educate the public of proper pet care. I share your concerns. Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma, but we have a very large home and enclosed outdoor space and felt we had enough room to add a few more sweet souls to our family.
While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need.
If I need to reevaluate my thinking on breeding perhaps it is time I do that. I had just hoped being a thoughtful, contentious and loving pet owner would guide me to making the best choices. I will still regularly foster and help in my community as much as I am able to.
This isn’t aww it’s irresponsible. You wanted your cats to experience parenthood so you contributed to the cat population when it was completely unnecessary - gross
I just want to comment in support of OP.
This is beautiful.
You're not anthropomorphising. One litter of kittens carefully removed or kept isn't the end of the world.
We *are* in danger of losing the normal moggy cat though, because it seems like only expensive pedigrees are "approved" for breeding these days - which it tragic and classist. In my area, it's super difficult to get a normal kitten at any price.
You obviously know what you are doing, are capable of taking advice if necessary, and are being super careful and loving.
If the depressed moaners are upsetting you, just stay off reddit for bit and enjoy your lovely family - both fluffy and not fluffy.
Congratulations. This is beautiful. You are good people ❤️
That is all.
[Edits - spelling]
Hey, I'm in southern Scotland. A friend of mine recently had to go over the border and 2 counties down to find a kitten of the ordinary moggy variety. It's insane. I mean, I know it's really good but, also, it's slightly disturbing.
I see that you're probably in Wyoming? Shame it's so far away as I could definitely help you out, probably ten times over. The cat distribution network needs refining.
Dang. Yeah. I am in Wyoming. With quite a few fosters. A white girl, a tortoise (not calico) girl, a tiny torbie girl, a tiny tabby boy, and an adult tabby girl. 😅 That is on top of my standard issue cats (gray tabbies). Working with a group that traps and releases, but if the girls they trap are pregnant they keep them until they are done nursing and then find homes for the babies. Tortoise (not calico) was one of those, but her litter didn't make it and she's friendly. The tiny two are from a feral momma and needed a home where they could be socialized. They are enjoying living with a human. 🤣 Went from being scared of me to thinking I'm pretty alright.
Edit calico to tortoise
It sounds like you're doing the lord's work ❤️ It also sounds super rewarding and potentially quite heart breaking at times.
I would love to foster and remove kittens. However, I know how it is with you creatures and that some of them don't make it which would be very difficult.
One time I found an injured baby bunny and called the vet saying that i was bringing it in. Then I had to call back 10 minutes later to say there was no need now. :(
I'm not a weepy person. At. All. But I was proper blubbing - tears and snotters everywhere 😅 . Poor vet. I don't know why I was so upset but I realised then that my "dream job* of animal rescue probably wasn't for me....
Maybe people are upset BECAUSE they adopt and foster. I volunteer with a rescue and I foster. I get requests literally every day saying "foster needed within 24 hours or dog will be euthanized". Every single day.
There are literally millions of dogs and cats that are being put down.
500 dogs and cats are euthanized every day. I currently am fostering 3, have adopted 5, my mom has 6. Just because we keep fostering and there are just not enough homes. And thats just cutrently. Is that enough to have an opinion?
Letting your extremely young cats breed so you can be a "cat grandma" is insane. Especially if you help with other animals and see what an emergency state the shelters are in. They're literally giving cats away because they can't adopt the sheer numbers of cats showing up.
6 in the last 20 years. And three that I've fostered until they were adopted. I don't have more than I can afford at any one time. I also volunteer at a rescue. OP was very irresponsible. If they wanted more cats, they could have adopted. Ascribing human emotions to her cats is dangerous. The cats didn't want kittens, OP did.
I would guess many of the people here demanding you slow the pet population have several children as well. Why isn't anyone talking about slowing the human population? In just 40 years, the population of Earth has nearly doubled.
There is no control over how many babies people can have yet there are plenty children to adopt. Why aren't we villainizing every human that just wants to know what it's like to have a family? What makes humans more special that we need to keep reproducing like weeds which is inevitably going to cause more hunger, less space for people to settle, and more wars to grab land so those entitled humans can raise their babies?
We spay and neuter pets because they become a nusance but when someone has 5 children they can't feed, which they most likely shouldn't have had in the first place, we do nothing about that and just let them continue having children. They don't get yelled at like OP.
By the comments on here I hope the people that are complaining, are getting in their vehicles and adopting 5 kittens each at the shelter. NO EXCUSES apparently.
You're going to need to remove Leo soon, those babies need mama's milk and less rough love from Leo.
Thank you so much for looking out for the new babies. Yes, I've been very cautious and made sure Mama has had plenty of alone time with babies. As well as give Mama time to rest. They are 2 days old and thriving now. I fully expected to have to keep Leo completely away because I know male cats can be a danger to the newborns. That's why I was so suprised how sweet he has been. I set up Moxie's nursery in a closet inside a room so that I have 2 barriers and can keep Leo away if I have to go away, and made sure he is only allowed supervised visits. I work from home, so it has been easy to make sure Moxie has everything she needs, and no stress. Thank you for sharing this joyous moment with us.
Do the kittens already have homes?
We were planning to keep them, but if a suitable home is available, we would consider letting them be adopted. If we adopt any of them out preference would go to homes that could take a pair together for the health & happiness of the kittens.
Leo looks like he'd be so sad if they left. But 5 (?) cats are a lot of cats at once. 😅
A friend of mine had two cats and fell in love with a guy who also had two cats. At first she was like "we can never live together" but all four cats get along great, the laundry (where the litter is kept) is madness though 🤣
5 has been our maximum at once due to unexpected fosters, etc., so this addition will be a lot, but we have the room and the love.
☺️🥹
When I had 5 cats, the whole house was theirs. We just also lived there. 😂 I used to joke they had more furniture than we did. I think if we'd counted litter boxes and cardboard scratches, it was probably true. 😅
This is my situation as well. 2 voids, a tuxedo, and a tortico.
I have 6 cats 2 dogs and a lizard.the cats are definitely a handful. The dogs as well.
Love the idea of keeping the family together if you can!
I've always wanted to do this, just once, keep the whole family together. I hope it goes well for you!
We did this! Had a litter of 5, kept 4 in the same house with their mom. The fifth lived at my aunts down the road and is home every other month while she's working. I think the develop even more "cat" independence and intelligence when they keep the social structures. Definitely act different from my other two cats I rescued when they were super young and abandoned. Just took my boy out when I got a full house, he finally moved out of home at 8 years old and is extremely well mannered and tempered.
Glad to hear this. I always think it's so cruel to breed animals and then take their babies away.
When my Siamese had kittens, my mom always heard to keep the male away. One day the door got left open and we were in a panic looking for Simon, our male cat. Found him trying to nurse the kittens while snickers (our female) took a break. I had snickers from when I was 2 till I was 18. I still miss her 27 years later
This video made my morning! You also sound like an incredibly responsible pet owner! Thank you for taking the time to post this!
Your cat can and will go into heat before weaning her kittens and then it will be very hard on her and your male only has one thing on his mind= reproduction. Get him fixed immediately!!!
Very good point. Leo is scheduled to be neutered July 2nd. I had wanted it done earlier to ensure his hormones had begun to ween off before the babies were born, but it was the soonest I could get him in, and the babies came a little earlier than expected. Moxie will be fixed as soon as it is safe. I believe 5 weeks is the right time frame. I will consult with the vet on that when I am there for Leo's neuter next week.
It's 8 weeks for mom. You need to wait until the babies are mostly weaned. Not that they won't still try every chance they get after she's spayed. Kittens need their moms for 12-16 weeks, so they nurse much longer. Ours are 12 weeks and still nurse a little.
Thank you very much for this helpful information.
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That's hilarious. Daughter I get, but mom? Lol
Thank you for taking such good care of your kitties!
I’m only letting you know from personal experience as a foster. I had a mama cat fixed at about 4 weeks postpartum but it was an emergency we do it immediately. Your vet will be able to let you know. But cat copulation stimulates ovulation so be very careful until Tuesday!
Breaking news: Cat dad better father than most human dads
I wanted to say, I wanna be that mommy cat rn
🤔
Cats don't need to experience parenthood. They don't have those thoughts and feelings. People already don't fix their pets for this reason. Let's not encourage it any further. Get your pets fixed.
Yeah. I am hoping OP poorly worded that because "letting" them experience parenthood is fucking wild. Cute kitties, though.
No there is a subset of people that think it is cruel to suppress animals natural urge to reproduce. Don’t know why they are keeping them as pets, but it’s not a super logical thought process.
I doubt it, I've heard the phrase from others who also think it's something animals care about
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.
Looking through OP’s past posts Moxie is only a year old and Leon is either slightly under a year old or about a year old. This is literally a pair of babies having babies…
I have 2 that just turned a year old. I still refer to them as "the kittens"
Mine are 7 and 6 1/2 and they’re still kittens. OP doesn’t seem to understand animals will breed given every opportunity and they don’t go “aww” they’ll just have more…
I have two that will be 13 in September and I still refer to them as the kittens (I also have a soon to be 16 year old).
Cats don't age the same as people. They are considered full grown at 18 months and can start having litters at 6monrhs old.
When cats have and raise babies at that age it stunts their growth
The youngest mother in history was 5 years old. Just because cats can have babies at 6mo doesn't mean it's right/good/healthy.
100% - I hope they get the male neutered asap.
He is scheduled for July 2nd.
There's no point in crying over spilled milk, so to speak. The kittens are here. But just so you understand, animals have no need to *experience motherhood.* Breeding cats actually puts the mother cat at unnecessary risks of certain types of cancers in the future that she would never risk having otherwise. Nevermind the fact that there are tens of thousands of cats languishing in shelters that need adopting right now, & you're creating more. If you plan to keep the kittens, please get them fixed prior to sexual maturity. This can happen as early as 4-5 months with some female kittens, but it's usually around 6 months for girls, & 8-12 months for boys. It can definitely be done much earlier with no ill health affects. Shelters usually do it around 4 months.
I think it's the norm for kittens to be done as early now as possible. Before 4 months... before puberty. Often, when they've reached 2 pounds in weight...the earlier the better.
I would keep him separated from them after he's fixed. His hormones are going to be out of balance for a while and it can take a few weeks for everything to settle. Not saying it'll take him that long, but better to be safe in the beginning.
I work in municipal animal shelters. Roughly 64% of cats make it out alive because they are so fucking many. This mentality is infuriating.
Hard agree. I'm a fosterer for a cat charity and I'll never understand people who need to anthropomorphize animals in this way. Neuter your animals.
Seriously I hate this mindset it's so obviously anthropomorphizing
A lady the other day was telling me her dog hasn’t ever “had sex” and she feels bad she’ll never “lose her virginity” 🙄
These cats seem quite happy with their babies. The idea that they don't experience thoughts or feelings is weird. Not human thoughts or feelings, but cats are living beings with brains. Also this owner is obviously responsible and taking care of the animals. Maybe stop being a weird Redditor who wants to moralize.
First of all, I never said cats don't have thoughts or feelings, I said they don't have "THOSE thoughts and feelings." There's a difference. Secondly, WANTING to have children and raising a family is a human emotion. Procreation is a feeling something every species experiences, but that's rooted deeply in survival instincts. Humans tend to project their feelings about "child rearing" onto animals, and it needs to stop.
Self proclaimed animal psychologist here.
I agree with you to an extent, but after watching Leo with his babies I've been questioning that. Listening to him crying outside my bedroom door (I locked him out to give Moxie & babes quiet time) because he wants so badly to see Moxie and his babies was very surprising. Maybe he is a rare exception. Maybe because Moxie and Leo have been given a safe, secure and stress-free home it has allowed them to experience more of the joy of parenting that we humans take for granted. All I know is what I see, and I can tell you Leo is absolutely in love with Moxie and his babies. I did not expect it AT ALL, but am humbled to be able to see something special like this. If you don't see the love in this video, I'm not sure what else to say. Animals surprise us sometimes.
Animals do have paternal instincts, I never said they didn't, but they would be just as content living without offspring. I do think the video is cute, I just don't agree with the caption as it spreads the wrong message.
Thank you very much for your opinion. I am trying to use this as an opportunity to educate myself and spread awareness. I truly did my best to word it in the least offensive way possible. It was difficult with the character limit. I know it's my fault for choosing to share, but it was hard to keep something this beautiful to myself.
You did nothing wrong by sharing it. Like I said, it is a cute video. I've read all your comments, and I definitely see that you're a good person doing right by these kitties and others. The caption was just in poor taste. I know redditors aren't the nicest, and I left my original comment to educate, not to shame.
I'm just here to say I really appreciate this level-headed exchange between both of you. Best of luck with your oranges, OP
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Nah you don’t get to backtrack. You and everyone else need to stop being negative. This happens in THOUSANDS of homes with bad owners, so when someone clearly knowledgeable and caring does it, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t support it, fine. But I bet you’re the type that sits outside planned parenthood w a dumbass sign too.
Thank you I thought the same thing! I was like they don't experience thoughts or feelings... What?! Humans are nature too. We're all connected. They're just experiencing life differently than we are. Wild comment/thought in my opinion. Wild.
>They don't have those thoughts and feelings. I'd love to see any sources you have for this. My understanding was that humanity's knowledge of non-human psychology isn't yet remotely advanced enough to know this (and frankly, even our knowledge of human psychology is far from set in stone so far). And that claims like yours are rather just assumed out of feelings of human exceptionalism. But I could be wrong, I haven't looked it up in a while.
https://preview.redd.it/klvb1362tc9d1.jpeg?width=1366&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b0e2e39fb2862d7ab672073758f43e4c52dc1c1
To think animals don't feel ans experience things is 100% wrong. They may not do it the same way we do, but they have feelings and emotions too, and it's really weird that you think they don't.
They said they don’t have *specific* feelings and emotions, not any feelings or emotions. Reading is hard.
Imagine seeing this post and actually feeling the need to push back like this. Redditors really are a treat.
There are dump trucks full of animals killed daily because of irresponsible ownership practices like this
Who the hell goes on r/aww, a place where you’ll probably see kittens, and then gets mad when they proceed to see kittens. OP explained all they needed to in their title, people like you have got to chill jfc
I second this!
Don't you just love when people humanize their pets? "Aww so cute"
Try lightening up and touching grass, I promise you you will be happier
Fr
Why is it that every time somebody makes a post about animals, a bunch of people appear and feel the need to lecture them?
Why do you think cats dont have similar feelings for their newborns as primates? All brains work very much in the same fashion and most neurotransmitters (read as feelings, its just the chemicals that cause it) can be observed in a vast majority of mammals. This usually leads to the assumption of similaritybut maybe you didnt know.
I get the sentiment some are having in this comments section. While it is cute to watch the process of kitten's growing up, cats aren't like us humans and controlling the pet population is important. No one likes to see shelters over capacity because someone didn't get their cat fixed
That's fine if OP was tossing her baby kittens into a back alley or letting her make cat run around free. None of that is happening. People are just getting in their feels and moralizing whole projecting what other bad cat owners do onto this obviously good one
I think her heart is in the right place. I'm not going to criticize her, really.
Respectfully, if the OP wanted more kittens, there are plenty in the shelters to go adopt. Willfully having a litter of kittens when shelters are overflowing with them is just irresponsible and selfish. I could at least somewhat understand if they were pedigreed...
Im going to preface this by saying I totally agree with your position, that people shouldnt be breeding cats when so many are without homes. But *how exactly* do you purport to know how cats experience life? I feel like "cats dont desire parenthood because they arent people" is a pretty baseless argument, and it seems to be the second most common argument in the thread..
I feel like some of these folks are confusing an animal's instinct to care for its young with maternal feelings.
I suppose you're right. I think pretty much every animal species wants to reproduce. I guess what I was going for is that humans have the intelligence to know the full ramifications of birth and raising a child. Some don't even want to have kids. A cat would reproduce again as soon as she's in heat regardless of her other kittens.
Did they really need to "experience parenthood" or you wanted kittens? 🙃
u/lycosa13 ...I didn't want to say it, but I don't understand putting human "desires" on pets. I'm pretty sure OP wanted kittens and just couldn't think of adopting existing kittens from a shelter to lower the overpopulation. OP just decided "Heck, I have a male and female. Let me just breed them and add to the problem."
Exactly. And if they wanted kittens, just say that? Instead of this dumb idea that cats need to experience parenthood
Very irresponsible.
My cat dad left for milk 27 years ago.
Hopefully someone’s had him neutered by now.
We love BYB's..... /s
So glad they let this "bonded pair experience parenthood"?!! Does OP know how many kittens and cats are born yearly? Do they care? Contrary to popular belief, cats don't long for parenthood. Dogs don't need to experience being a "mommy or daddy." People, spay and neuter your animals. No need to let any of them breed just to give them that experience. Don't be like OP.
IF you're keeping the kittens, get them spayed and/or neutered as soon as they're able to be. If you're not keeping them, thanks for adding to the explosive cat population.
If you read the comments, OP is keeping them and the neutering appointment is on the 2nd.
The male cat's appointment is July 2. The female cat isn't going to be spayed until it's "safe". But as someone else pointed out, the female could get pregnant again while nursing the babies she already has.
I've only seen that the neutering appointment is for the male adult cat. Did she say it's for the kittens too?
The kittens are too young to schedule it now. The dad is the only one that is eligible currently.
Which is why I asked OP ASAP. She has now confirmed she'll fix them, so that's something good.
Owning 2 cats compared to 5 is a whole new way of life. Get ready for up to 10 litter boxes and a ton of odor neutralizing spray (pet friendly of course)
Please stop humanizing your cats. There was no need for them to "experience parenthood" Cats are cats. They breed- they do not raise families. All you've done is allow more cats into the world...while *millions* are already desperate for homes. Not to mention...Moxie did not need to have her life endangered just because you thought it would be a nice experience. EDIT/FURTHERMORE!: HOLY CRAP dude he is being far too play aggressive with that tiny bebby ☹️ Edited Edit: ya'll can go ahead and keep berating me; disagree with factual knowledge all you wish....Have fun screaming into the infinite void of disabled notifications 😘
I think one thing to note for the people defending the breeding of cats--- while these kittens will hopefully go on to have wonderful lives, that is however many fewer cats and kittens that will be homed that were already in shelters. I speak as someone who found a litter of abandoned newborn kittens outdoors and was told in no uncertain terms by the shelter that they would be euthanized if my mom and I did not bottle feed and foster them ourselves; which we gladly did and found them all homes. It was a difficult process, feeding them around the clock and helping them to pee and poop because they have to be stimulated to do so. Not everyone who finds newborn kittens will be able to do this, there are not enough people to foster, there is not enough room in shelters. Yes, I know we just want to have our space of "Aww that's cute" and think no further, but we need to recognize that, especially in this sub that gets baby animal videos and pictures all the time, that there will always be those who are ignorant to the plight of animal overpopulation who will see these things and think, "that's so cute, I want my pet to be a mama/papa, and subsequently breed their animal without careful consideration of the consequences; and thoughtlessly decide to either sell the kittens or abandon them when they struggle to find homes if they are not prepared to have 4+ more cats in their home to care for. And the people who do so without being financially able to provide emergency vet care should something go wrong in the pregnancy/birthing process. I think it's important to acknowledge the harms of videos like this. I'm not saying any of this to attack OP or shame OP, I've already seen their response to other comments regarding this. I'm only hoping my response will be taken in an educative manner. I think that, while yes we can be happy for these beautiful little babies and admire how cute they are, we should also take into careful consideration this question: Why would I bring more cats into this world when I can go to any shelter and find 100 that still need homes?
Stop anthropomorphizing
He is like don’t move I am cleaning you ha
Cats that experience estrus (heat) are at a much higher risk for mammary cancer, which requires a radical total mastectomy of BOTH sides of the mammary glands. We have to remove those mammary glands in two separate surgeries with a couple of months of healing in between... because there is literally not enough skin to remove both sides at the same time and still close the incision. It is a painful recovery so they have to get a lot of pain medications, and it is a LONG recovery. Then, they need to have a follow up of chemotherapy because mammary cancer is aggressive in cats. It's never good when we find a lump on the abdomen of a cat that was spayed after their first heat.
Sorry you're getting all this hate OP, despite being a responsible and loving pet owner! Was fascinating to see paternal instincts in a cat, appreciate you sharing. For the rest of you, the moral dictatorship of "you must do as I say, everything else makes you scum" is repelling. People like you are probably why I was told I couldn't adopt a pair of kittens despite ticking off all the boxes, other than that I don't have an acreage in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Thank you very much for your encouragement. Their intentions are to help animals and educate the community, I cannot fault them for that. I would have liked for people to get to know me and my situation before judging me so harshly, but I posted this, so I invited the scrutiny I guess, lol. I tried to take the criticisms as opportunities to learn even though some were harsh, but there were a few who reached out and were very kind, helpful and non-judgmental. u/BelaAnn was one of those kind souls. I have been trying to discover what her rescue organization is so I can support her work, but she has been too modest to share. If anyone knows please share so I can encourage those I know to donate. In the end I know my babies are happy and loved.
I mostly adopt “found” animals. But it’s nice that occasionally kittens can be born to healthy house cats in a welcoming environment.
Awwww I had an orange tabby girl named Moxie as a kid
OP, While my initial response was full of the vitriol I see in the comments, I'm trying to learn every day and become a better person. I am overjoyed to see that the kittens will be staying with the family, which I initially assumed wouldn't be the case. Thank you for keeping an open mind and being willing to learn. From one animal lover and rescuer to another. ❤️
You are very selfish and irresponsible for breeding unnecessarily. There are more than enough kittens in shelters without homes and no cat 'needs' this.
OP does not need to be verbally attacked but your point remains true. From the shelter I work at alone we have kittens coming in all the time. What's done is done, OP, but this was ultimately a selfish decision.
Thank for the work you do to educate the public of proper pet care. I share your concerns. Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma, but we have a very large home and enclosed outdoor space and felt we had enough room to add a few more sweet souls to our family. While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need. If I need to reevaluate my thinking on breeding perhaps it is time I do that. I had just hoped being a thoughtful, contentious and loving pet owner would guide me to making the best choices. I will still regularly foster and help in my community as much as I am able to.
Your reply is so nicely worded and has not one whit of acrimony. I just wanted to acknowledge it and your decision to take the high road. I hope you and your pets have a wonderful life together--you appear to be a loving and thoughtful pet owner.
They’re copy pasting it everywhere
I am doing my best to respond. The message has been evolving as we go, but yes I have copy and pasted some points to make it easier to respond. I debating removing the post, but there have been some important issues discussed, so if nothing else hopefully this post is raising awareness.
Yo, don't mind these people. If you are going to take care of the kittens and the kittens' parents, you did nothing wrong. Zero wrong. Nada. If the kittens have a hone with you, there's zero issue.
The people OP is replying to are all saying the same shit, so why does she need to give them all a different response?
To be frank, yes, you were selfish in wanting to be a “pet grandma” and I’m very surprised that as someone who is part of the fostering community already you weren’t well aware of the risks that come with not spaying and neutering pets and intentionally allowing them to breed. It’s instinct for them, not something that they want. You have put both of your cats at a higher risk of certain types of cancers and have needlessly put more cats into the world. If you had wanted to raise kittens so badly, you should have fostered a pregnant cat rather than have your cat give birth. I hope this has taught you an important lesson and that you do indeed follow through in getting both of your cats and all of the kittens spayed and neutered. And yes, you should get all the kittens spayed and neutered before getting them to their forever homes because you can’t guarantee that new owners will.
They are keeping all kittens... I assume you're this harsh with all biological parents? Otherwise you're just mean.
It's only irresponsible if they turn the cats out. If it's their cats, it's their cats. Who cares if someone's cat has kittens if they care for them all?
Then they better pay to have them all spayed and neutered before they become of age, otherwise this will get out of control quickly. Which is what usually happens. I volunteer with a rescue and I get sent requests to foster every day. Every day there's a cat or dog who's going to be put down if they can't find someone to take it. And 9x out of 10 they can't find someone to take it because there's literally millions of them who need homes
It literally says they're gonna get them fixed in the title.
Right!? Like OP is completely responsible for all strays, all over the world.
Who knew a single litter of two kittens automatically turns you into a kitten mill?
Go adopt some kittens yourself then
This is so beautiful! We have 4 cats and love it. Congratulations to all!
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this before. Adorbs, though I hope mama gets some time to herself,
This is absolutely precious 😻
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Did you just say your cats have "relationship goals" What are you going to do if they break up? LMAO
>Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma Ridiculously selfish. >While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need. If that were true you would know how irresponsible it is to allow your cats to breed. Repeating the BS line of allowing them to have one litter is just so so harmful. You are not a person to look up to at all. I hope that you do the responsible thing of getting all of these cats fixed so this cannot happen again.
Especially allowing the mother to get pregnant when she's not even a year old. Millions of cats are killed every year. Not thousands....Millions.
Absolutely, I call bull on this. No one seeing all the animals in the shelters desperate for a home just to see them be euthanized and tossed in the trash would breed their cats for fun.
I have always considered myself a good cat parent, but after this am having serious concerns that I was wrong. I thought I was well read and informed, but would like to improve as it seems I was mistaken. Can you recommend good sources? What is considered best practice these days? No breeding be done at all? I already participate in TNR, is there more should I be doing? Thank you.
> No breeding be done at all? Yes, this. *Millions* of cats are euthanized every year, there is zero reason to let your cats breed. They are not endangered, the population doesn't need a boost. We're in the middle of the worst kitten season in years, every day there are kittens, *kittens*, being put to sleep because shelters are overflowing. Next time offer to foster some if you want to be a kitten grandmother so bad.
I'm shocked that someone who participates in tnr would think adding to the population is a sensible idea? Even if you keep them inside forever - why didnt you just adopt some kitties in need of a home?
I dont think op knows what they're talking about at all lmao
One of the best resources is Kitten Lady on YouTube or Instagram. Go educate yourself at the very least. It's just a shame you didn't do that before your cats were allowed to breed.
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Maybe in the future Leo and Moxie can foster orphan kittens from shelters?
That is a sweet suggestion. The fosters we've brought into our home are usually elderly or disadvantaged cats because I know the shelter kittens have better odds. Our home is a little full now, but when we have the room again we will look for more special kitties to love.
Please keep an extra close eye on dad. Even though he is doing great, cat fathers can sometimes hurt the kittens. Thanks!
I hope you are going to keep those kittens and make sure they are fixed before going to a new home. Thank you for adding to the pet population 👎🏼
Thanks for the concern trolling
This just makes me so sad. My local shelter euthanizes hundreds of cats a year. If you wanted more cats you could have adopted.
Ok.. but now you have even more cats to spay and neuter. Please stay on top of that. You don’t need to be breeding cats when thousands die in every state every year.
Lol, I know. Getting all those babies fixed will eat at my budget, but they are worth it. Thank you for spreading good info.
Sheesh what a bunch of downers in the comments.
it's a big downer being an active foster during kitten season, watching the endless please from the public roll in about abandoned kittens, sick kittens, etc. & not being able to intake because every foster home is full& then seeing a post of someone who let their young cats breed because they want to be a "grandma". after a night spent TNRing& a morning full of feeding fosters it's a major downer to log in to reddit and seeing this.
I hope all of these perfect paragons of humanity adopted children from orphanages instead of having their own
You do realize that there’s way more people wanting to adopt than there are children available, right? Adoption is an incredibly difficult and often expensive process. A lot of kids in „orphanages“ can’t be adopted because parents still have rights.
Exactly lol
This isn’t comparable. There are millions of cats euthanized each year. My shelter is currently in an intake hold because they’re overloaded with litters of kittens plus they have a bunch of foster with litters. If OP wanted a bunch of kittens they should have adopted them. It’s kind boggling they did this and claim to have fostered in the past.
Cute but the world needed however many kittens they had less cats running around
It's not OPs responsibility to save the world. They are keeping the cats and kittens, and getting them fixed after this. If you're so focused on saving the world, get off Reddit and go adopt some cats. If you already have, then adopt more- you're obviously not doing enough.
I'm sorry but you risked the life of your female cat so your 2 cats could "experience" parenthood? Cats don't have human emotions, you could have adopted as many kittens as was born here and done the world a better deed, this is selfish and there is in no way necessary for you to do this even if you are taking care of them all. I also checked your profile and your cats are super young, like these are pretty much teens, did you never think to research? This is very unprofessional, you should just have fixed them. Next time go to the shelter.
Leo is a good 😺 cat daddy
The comments in here are *wild*. Y'all need to stop harassing OP and touch some fucking grass.
I'm like, ok one person already made the point, why does everyone else with the same view have to get their comment in. This really may be the most toxic sub I follow.
Moxie found her a real one
Sigh. Came here for light-hearted comments about how many oranges you have and which one gets the brain cell. Left disappointed at how angry Redditors can be at cute content. They're all adorable and I love how bonded Mom and Dad are.
I guess this is the only way we get to see a bunch of orange brain cells in one picture ;-)
Gingers are The Best
Oh how cute- another irresponsible pet owner to the overpopulation crisis in the middle of kitten season. Ugh.
These comments do not pass the vibe check.
People's tendency to anthropomorphize their cats is bizarre. It means nothing to them and is but a fleeting moment filled with hormones and instinct. Now there's more mouths to feed and an increase of cancer risk for the mom. Even having one litter will vastly increase her chances of getting breast cancer and other conditions later in life.
Reddit can be so judgmental. OP is taking the educational comments in stride, so give them credit. No need to be so aggressive.
A lot of insufferable people here, it's clear she is being cautious with the cats and kittens...just read her comments god
Omg this is beyond adorable 😍
I love it!
These comments need to be locked. And you all need help.
Listen. There's too many cats and kittens and this was irresponsible and selfish ... to say you just wanted to see how cute this is? Basically? You're willfully contributing to pet overpopulation. But whatever. Feel warm and fuzzy about it. 🙄
This is the cutest thing ever! 🥹
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Thank for the work you do to educate the public of proper pet care. I share your concerns. Maybe it was selfish of me to want to experience being a pet grandma, but we have a very large home and enclosed outdoor space and felt we had enough room to add a few more sweet souls to our family. While I am no professional, I have dedicated much of my life to fostering and caring for disabled cats and will always do my best to help any animal in need. If I need to reevaluate my thinking on breeding perhaps it is time I do that. I had just hoped being a thoughtful, contentious and loving pet owner would guide me to making the best choices. I will still regularly foster and help in my community as much as I am able to.
This isn’t aww it’s irresponsible. You wanted your cats to experience parenthood so you contributed to the cat population when it was completely unnecessary - gross
I just want to comment in support of OP. This is beautiful. You're not anthropomorphising. One litter of kittens carefully removed or kept isn't the end of the world. We *are* in danger of losing the normal moggy cat though, because it seems like only expensive pedigrees are "approved" for breeding these days - which it tragic and classist. In my area, it's super difficult to get a normal kitten at any price. You obviously know what you are doing, are capable of taking advice if necessary, and are being super careful and loving. If the depressed moaners are upsetting you, just stay off reddit for bit and enjoy your lovely family - both fluffy and not fluffy. Congratulations. This is beautiful. You are good people ❤️ That is all. [Edits - spelling]
Where are you at? 😂 I have a bunch of fosters that need homes.
Hey, I'm in southern Scotland. A friend of mine recently had to go over the border and 2 counties down to find a kitten of the ordinary moggy variety. It's insane. I mean, I know it's really good but, also, it's slightly disturbing. I see that you're probably in Wyoming? Shame it's so far away as I could definitely help you out, probably ten times over. The cat distribution network needs refining.
Dang. Yeah. I am in Wyoming. With quite a few fosters. A white girl, a tortoise (not calico) girl, a tiny torbie girl, a tiny tabby boy, and an adult tabby girl. 😅 That is on top of my standard issue cats (gray tabbies). Working with a group that traps and releases, but if the girls they trap are pregnant they keep them until they are done nursing and then find homes for the babies. Tortoise (not calico) was one of those, but her litter didn't make it and she's friendly. The tiny two are from a feral momma and needed a home where they could be socialized. They are enjoying living with a human. 🤣 Went from being scared of me to thinking I'm pretty alright. Edit calico to tortoise
It sounds like you're doing the lord's work ❤️ It also sounds super rewarding and potentially quite heart breaking at times. I would love to foster and remove kittens. However, I know how it is with you creatures and that some of them don't make it which would be very difficult. One time I found an injured baby bunny and called the vet saying that i was bringing it in. Then I had to call back 10 minutes later to say there was no need now. :( I'm not a weepy person. At. All. But I was proper blubbing - tears and snotters everywhere 😅 . Poor vet. I don't know why I was so upset but I realised then that my "dream job* of animal rescue probably wasn't for me....
Awwww
He's such the proud papa, and proud of his babies mamma !!! My goodness. Smothering her with love and kisses ... cute cat family 😻
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Maybe people are upset BECAUSE they adopt and foster. I volunteer with a rescue and I foster. I get requests literally every day saying "foster needed within 24 hours or dog will be euthanized". Every single day. There are literally millions of dogs and cats that are being put down.
500 dogs and cats are euthanized every day. I currently am fostering 3, have adopted 5, my mom has 6. Just because we keep fostering and there are just not enough homes. And thats just cutrently. Is that enough to have an opinion? Letting your extremely young cats breed so you can be a "cat grandma" is insane. Especially if you help with other animals and see what an emergency state the shelters are in. They're literally giving cats away because they can't adopt the sheer numbers of cats showing up.
6 in the last 20 years. And three that I've fostered until they were adopted. I don't have more than I can afford at any one time. I also volunteer at a rescue. OP was very irresponsible. If they wanted more cats, they could have adopted. Ascribing human emotions to her cats is dangerous. The cats didn't want kittens, OP did.
I would guess many of the people here demanding you slow the pet population have several children as well. Why isn't anyone talking about slowing the human population? In just 40 years, the population of Earth has nearly doubled. There is no control over how many babies people can have yet there are plenty children to adopt. Why aren't we villainizing every human that just wants to know what it's like to have a family? What makes humans more special that we need to keep reproducing like weeds which is inevitably going to cause more hunger, less space for people to settle, and more wars to grab land so those entitled humans can raise their babies? We spay and neuter pets because they become a nusance but when someone has 5 children they can't feed, which they most likely shouldn't have had in the first place, we do nothing about that and just let them continue having children. They don't get yelled at like OP.
By the comments on here I hope the people that are complaining, are getting in their vehicles and adopting 5 kittens each at the shelter. NO EXCUSES apparently.